The last fight on Ben Askren ‘s Bellator MMA deal is in the books, and the promotion’s welterweight champion delivered yet again with perhaps his most dominant performance to date. Now CEO Bjorn Rebney finds himself in a position he’s been in before – hoping to keep one of his champions rather than lose him to the competition. Rebney on Wednesday confirmed to MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that Askren’s win over Andrey Koreshkov at this past week’s Bellator 97 card was the last fight on his current deal. Rebney also said he’s unsure of what steps the promotion will take in negotiations with Askren (12-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA), who has a standard exclusive negotiating period with Bellator built into his deal before he can seek offers from other promotions. In the past, as was the case with former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez , Rebney waived the exclusive period and let Alvarez test the market early. He got an offer from the UFC, Bellator attempted to match it and now the entire case is tied up in the legal system with Alvarez’s side saying Bellator’s counter-offer was not a true match
BAD MMA Trending Cloud
UFC • Bellator • Conor Mcgregor • news • PFL • Jon Jones • Daniel Cormier • Dustin Poirier • Khabib Nurmagomedov • Dana White • Francis Ngannou • Jorge Masvidal • videos • Nate Diaz • WSOF • Anderson Silva • Max Holloway • Ronda Rousey • Amanda Nunes • Donald Cerrone • Michael Bisping • Michael Chandler • Tony Ferguson • Kamaru Usman • Alexander Volkanovski • Demetrious Johnson • Alex Pereira • Charles Oliveira • featured • Henry Cejudo • jake paul • Jose Aldo • One Championship • Derrick Lewis • sean o'malley • Aljamain Sterling • Stipe Miocic • islam makhachev • Tyron Woodley • Georges St Pierre
- MMA News (110912)
- UFC 311 news: Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira added to January pay-per-view
- Michael Bisping uses Jake Paul as example to highlight issue with Jon Jones
- UFC 310: Michael Chiesa sees Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry going the distance
- Ian Machado Garry rooting for Joaquin Buckley to beat ‘b*tch’ Colby Covington at UFC on ESPN 63
- UFC flyweights Edgar Chairez, C.J. Vergara to collide in March
- Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson medical suspensions: Both fighters receive same mandatory minimum
- Daniel Cormier responds to Bo Nickal’s discontent with UFC 309 commentary: ‘There’s room for improvement’
- Khalil Rountree discusses moment he ‘went blind’ in Alex Pereira loss at UFC 307
- MMA Junkie LIVE debate: Does Jon Jones deserve No. 1 pound-for-pound ranking?
- Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo prediction, pick: Which ex-champ will rise in Macau?